Updated 11:48 am, Friday, September 16, 2016

The trial date of a former Central Michigan University faculty member facing a federal charge in a child pornography case has been postponed as attorneys work on a plea agreement.

The indictment against Mark Thomas Ranzenberger was filed in May in the U.S. District Court in Bay City. Ranzenberger is charged with possession of child porn involving minors under the age of 12 in Isabella County.

The trial had been set for Sept. 27, but an order was filed this week to adjourn that date, as well as the plea cut off, for about 30 days.

“The parties need additional time to pursue plea negotiations, which are in progress but have not been completed,” the papers state.

The new plea cut off date is Oct. 17, and the trial has been rescheduled for Nov. 1 before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Ludington.

An affidavit in the case states a U.S. Secret Service agent was notified in March by CMU Police of a child porn investigation involving Ranzenberger. The investigation began on March 4 when a student reported to the university’s Faculty Personnel Services that while in class, Ranzenberger accessed files from his Dropbox account which showed thumbnails of pornographic images.

Found on the computer were photos that appeared to contain images of nude children in sexually suggestive poses, the affidavit states. Also found during forensic examinations of other digital media seized from Ranzenberger’s Moore Hall office were numerous images of young children engaged in sexual acts, a number of Power Point presentations believed created by Ranzenberger containing photos of young girls naked and engaged in sexual acts.

In total, about 1,032 images of child pornography were found.

After the police investigation began, Ranzenberger — a temporary faculty member — was placed on leave by the university. He later resigned.